After my death our beloved Church abroad will break three ways ... first the Greeks will leave us as they were never a part of us ... then those who live for this world and its glory will go to Moscow ... what will remain will be those souls faithful to Christ and His Church.~St. Philaret of NY

An Orthodox priest in the village of Zavyalovo (Udmurtia Republic), Fr Sergi Kondakov was likewise summoned to meet a local Public Prosecutor's official on 9 April in connection with "the fight against extremism", Portal-Credo religious news website reported. In 2011, Fr Sergi's parish stopped commemorating Patriarch Kirill of the Moscow Patriarchate during services. It now recognises Odessa-based Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky), the only hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad who refused to accept the Church's 2007 reunification with the Moscow Patriarchate.

According to a list compiled by Agora human rights organisation, Orthodox parishes recognising Metropolitan Agafangel in six Russian cities were checked as part of the NGO sweep. Reached on 15 May, however, Fr Ignaty Krutkov of one such parish in St Petersburg said he knew of no inspections. Forum 18's repeated calls to his Pskov Region-based archbishop went unanswered, as did those to Fr Sergi Kondakov.

In a video on the Zavyalovo parish's blog recorded immediately afterwards, Fr Sergi said he was pleased with how his 9 April meeting with Public Prosecutor officials had gone. Insisting that he had "fought extremism all my conscious life", Fr Sergi added that he would like Russia "never to return to that disgraceful practice of the Soviet years; that an equals symbol is never placed between dissent and extremism. We are Orthodox Christians, law-abiding citizens, but at the same time we wish to profess our faith not as Patriarch Kirill proposes (..) but as our consciences tell us, and we have the right to do that."

While not affiliated with Metropolitan Agafangel, a breakaway Orthodox publication has similarly been targeted as "extremist" for criticising the Moscow Patriarchate's support for ecumenism and the Putin regime. On 22 June 2012 a single issue of "Easter in the Third Rome" was ruled "extremist" by Abakan City Court (Khakassia Republic), Khakassia Republican Public Prosecutor's Office reported. The issue - sponsored by the Moscow Patriarchate's former bishop to Chukotka and Anadyr, Diomid (Dzyuban) - is now at No. 1452 on Russia's Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Seen by Forum 18, the banned issue consists solely of theological criticism of the Catholic Church and what is seen as Patriarch Kirill's ecumenical stance towards it. It does not call for any actions - violent or otherwise - towards people sharing such views.

Today we are fortunate by the grace of God to be in this wonderful church, this cathedral, celebrating a feast of faith. Because today is called the anti Pascha, or the Pascha for Thomas, who was not present when Christ first resurrected and appeared to the Apostles on the first Sunday. Then, Thomas was away and he was having trouble believing it. And many people who did not see Christ resurrected from the dead also have trouble believing that he actually, physically, and not only spiritually but physically resurrected from the dead. The Body was not in the tomb, He folded His burial Shroud neatly and He Resurrected and He is clothed in a garment of light. And, He is now an eternally living Body but it is the same Body that was crucified, rose and now He will never die again. And for some people that is very hard to believe without seeing it with their own eyes. Here is the very interesting and important thing to notice. It is that God did not discard Thomas for doubting, for saying unless I see it with my eyes and unless I put my fingers into the holes in His hands and until I put my hand in His side which had a huge hole from being run through with a spear. “Until I put my hand into the hole in His side, I will not believe.”

Now this seems like a fairly rash thing to say, a fairly confrontational thing to say to God, to almost like challenge Him. But the amazing thing is that Christ did not blame or reprimand, He just slightly, slightly chided him for it. And he says when he came back a week later and again he appeared to his disciples in the same room where they were hiding they were still behind locked doors, because they were afraid the Jews would come and get them too and kill them also. So they were hiding in the same room and Christ appeared with His new Body that can go through walls and just appear. He appeared among them and He said peace be unto all. Peace be unto you. Then He immediately turned to Thomas and He knew what Thomas said and that Thomas was waiting and said: "Come here Thomas and put your finger into My Hands and thrust your hand into the hole in My Side and be not unbelieving but believing." So, He did not even reprimand him for his unbelief. Why is that? And yet the Pharisees when they were not believing Him that he was Christ the Son of God, He called them the sons of the devil. He said they are masters of lies and deception, just like their fathers. Why the difference?

It turns out there are two different kinds of unbeliefs. The unbelief that comes from an ill will, the unbelief that refuses to believe is because of sin. It refuses to believe in Christ because then you would have to change your life completely. You would have to follow what Christ teaches and that means throwing out much of your sinful life, rebuilding your life. It means that you have to acknowledge that you are living in falseness, that you have to live according to Christ's teachings, and that is way too difficult for most people to do. They prefer to find excuses why they do not believe in Christ, they prefer to invent philosophies, they prefer to invent pseudo-scientific theories, they prefer to invent lifestyles that are not suitable to God. They prefer to invent legal systems, whatever you want. People's imagination is not limited, they will invent anything that they will in order to escape the responsibility and the confrontation with the Truth, which is Christ himself. They will find excuses to pacify their conscience, to say that "Oh who knows really, has anybody really ever seen God.” “There are many studies that have been done and it turns out this is not accurate.” They will find many different escapes for their conscience to not believe because they do not want to believe.

Now the other kind of unbelief is the belief in a pure heart and the pure heart that can believe and will believe but it just needs some evidence, something concrete so that being honest with itself this heart can believe. But it cannot believe anything it hears, it has to have some proof. And God honors that because the intention is there, it comes from a pure heart, and that heart is ready and willing to believe when given a chance. And that’s what Thomas was.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us examine our hearts very, very carefully because all of us suffer, to some degree, from unbelief. Now let us check where is that unbelief deep in our hearts coming from? Is it coming from an ill will? Is it coming because we don't really, really want to believe in Christ and know He's there and we are connected to Him and that we will stand before Him and give an answer for all our not only deeds, but all our thoughts and feelings. All the movements of our heart will all be examined and we have to answer for them. So are we hiding behind this unbelief because we do not want to confront that in ourselves and want to escape from it and don't want to actually rebuild what needs to be rebuilt? We do not want to repent, a simple orthodox word, and repentance is the key. If we do not want to repent we will find a 1001 reasons not to believe. But if we are honest with ourselves and if our unbelief comes from a fact that we have not had that confirmation from God that our heart needs. Thomas was a very practical man, he was a show me kind of guy. Today there are lots of show me kind of people. But it depends, are you that kind of person because you have a pure heart and you will be willing to accept the proof or you are not going to accept it?

Now the people that are open enough that they will accept it, God will provide that proof for you. Ask and you will receive and this is something that is not a lie. God said it himself. Those who seek shall find and those who ask will receive. And if what you need is a little more proof until you realize, yes, God is there and He sees me and He hears me and He knows everything about me and He is just waiting for me to come to Him with a pure heart. If you are that kind of a person then do not be afraid to express your doubt even to God Himself. Like the man whose son was possessed by devils and the apostles could not cure him because the man had a shortage of faith. But the man was really able to believe given the chance, and he knew that. And so when Christ asked him, "Do you believe that I can heal your son?" The man answered with tears immediately and he says, “Lord I believe but help my unbelief”. So he prayed a prayer for help with his unbelief and God gave it to him. He instantly healed his son and there it was. The man's son was healed and the man's lack of faith was also healed. The man's heart was healed. Now he was whole spiritually. He had no more doubt. He wanted to believe and he could believe. He was not looking for excuses not to believe.

And this is what we need to examine in ourselves. And today when we are celebrating this feast of faith, let us identify with Thomas, let us agree that we all have a little bit of unbelief in our hearts for some reason, and let us turn with a pure heart to God, like Thomas, and say when God gives us that proof let us not then turn away and say "Oh that could have been something else, that could have been a coincidence." Let us not throw it out. Let us appreciate what God gives us and like Thomas, say: my Lord and my God. Amen.

With great grief we inform you that our beloved Metropolitan Cyprian passed from this life to his eternal rest today at one o’clock . The funeral is to take place on Saturday at 10.00. We ask your prayers for his repose.

This book is in Serbian. The title is “Under the Six-pointed Star”, and is a book exposing the influence of Judaism and Freemasonry in the past and in the modern world. It was written by Bishop Gregory Grabbe when he was still a layman known as Count Yuriy Pavlovich Grabbe, living in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. At that time, he was already secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which, at that time, was headquartered in Belgrade as well. The name of the author of this book is Georgy Pavlovich. Yuriy is another form of the name George in Russian, and Pavlovich sounds like a Serbian surname, but in Russian it was Bishop Gregory’s patronymic. The original manuscript was confiscated during the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia by the Gestapo. All printed copies of the book somehow, mysteriously, disappeared from the bookstores. This PDF file is rare indeed. It is a photocopy of one of the last know original edition copies of this book, owned by Bishop Gregory’s daughter, Matushka Anastasia Georgievna Schatiloff, and left behind among her personal effects after her repose.

In June, Metropolitan Nikodim visited Western Europe. He is now immediately in charge of the Western European Exarchate. In Paris he called together a conference of non-Russian clergy. The Metropolitan explained to this clergy that the Moscow Patriarchia is now completely involved in the Ecumenical Movement. Thus its clergy must somewhat change its mentality in the West, showing a greater understanding in their relationship to their "separated brothers", participating ecumenical contacts and joint prayer with other faiths. Metropolitan Nikodim rode to revere the Mother of God of Fatima and in Rome gave a stern order to his hieromonk Evlogy to not accept any Italians into Orthodoxy so as not to hurt the Vatican. With the Pope‘s permission, Metropolitan Nikodim served in the Cathedral of the Apostle Peter on a Catholic antiminsion cloth and an altar, consecrated to St. Peter.

A New Confession of Faith

Archbishop Athenagoras of Theatira published a new Confession of Faith which acquires a special meaning in view of its formal acceptance by the Constantinople Patriarchate. The bulletin, "Episcopsis," reckons that "After more than two centuries, the Ecumenical Patriarchate approved the publication of a new Orthodox Confession of Faith, that is, the expression of the Orthodox Faith and prayer." The official letter of the Patriarch dated January 10, 1975, says of the Confession that, "this study has been examined by the Synodical Committee of the Patriarchate, and has been found appropriate for the care of spiritual needs of the rational flock." Patriarch Dmitry wrote, "Gladly therefore according to the Decision of the Synod, we extend our Blessing for the publication of this excellent work, the product of your pastoral zeal and the spiritual endurance of Your Eminence and congratulate you wholeheartedly on its production."

This Confession expresses "a new understanding" of the Church dogmas, "Christian people now visit churches and pray with other Christians of various traditions, with whom they were forbidden in the past to associate, for they were called heretics, damned heretics, and antichristians." The faithful were offered to not be polemical and not to display antagonism to heretics, "Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, Lutherans, and Methodist etc. are Christians, baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit... The Church has doors but no walls." The existence of different opinions is explained by the fact that the Orthodox Church as a whole "has not yet examined these important questions." All Christians independent of their confessions are declared to be members of the Body of Christ, the Church.

The Confession declares that Catholics are permitted to receive Communion in the Orthodox Church, and the Orthodox in the Catholic. It is now permitted for the Orthodox Liturgy to be offered in a Roman Catholic Church. The same permission is given to serve Catholic Mass in an Orthodox Church.

The Confession further states that because of friendly relations it has now become customary for the Orthodox to perform funerals for the Anglicans and offer to them the Holy Eucharist in places where there is no Anglican clergyman available. This is reciprocated for Orthodox Christians where there is no Orthodox clergyman available.

Concerning Masonry, it states that it is considered in vain to be a religion, regardless of the fact that it has distinct services for marriage, burial, christenings, and so on. We are reminded that the Catholic Church has announced that it no longer condemns Masonry.

The clear unorthodoxy of this document is remarked upon even by the monthly journal of the Orthodox Church of America.

Photo: Shelter for Russian orphans "House of Mercy" in Harbin.In the center of the Archbishop Nestor Metropolitan Meletius and Bishop Victor, Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Beijing.On the extreme left - Fr Filaret, the future Primate of the Church Abroad.

... an important TEXT with these holy land photos, is the one with the imprisoned Pat. Irineos, asin it, is recorded HIS SPECIFIC BLESSING TO OUR MET. AGAFANGEL and our Church, to exist and to minister in the Holy Land (WHICH territory, he is the SOLE canonical authority, by the canons).The old ROCOR... also, (as any and all Orthodox in his territory), had to always bow to the Pat. of Jerusalem and get his blessing for EVERYTHING!

Two Swedish twins throw themselves into heavy traffic on a UK 6-lane highway. One is hit by and rolled under the tires of a semi, the other hit by a car; both survive and one without any injury. [The car is destroyed.] Documentary is of actual footage – not re-enactments.

St. John S&SF used to visit a mental hospital where he would indicate to the doctors which patients were truly mentally ill and which patients were under some type of demonic control. There are some clues that point to demons being involved in the case of Sabrina and Ursala:

CBC's "The Passionate Eye" presents The Putin System - a point-of-view documentary that presents an ominous view of what Putin is willing to do to ensure Russia regains its position on the world stage.

"There is only one key word for the KGB mentality. The word is control."

A decision handed down by an Indiana jury in late April 2013 has concluded that outright fraud put both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the ballot in that state in 2008.Two Democratic operatives in the state were convicted of the illegal scheme.

We should now use, ROCA (instead of ROCOR) because that was the original name of the Synod in Exile, 'The Russian Orthodox Church ABROAD', only later, was the term 'Outside of Russia' added/changed .... in the title.

That official title change once had a specific meaning, but now that meaning doesn't apply. And, as far as I have read, ROCA ...is what Met. Agafangel wants our church NOW labeled (once again).

I have read this on his blog. NOW, we are INSIDE.... and.... OUTSIDE of....Russia, (The Russian Federation), so best for us to use 'Abroad', (which in Russian is the word for, 'Foreign'), and not use 'Outside Russia'.

Russians inside the Russian Federation, today, refer to us as, 'The Foreign Church', which 'Foreign Church', they tend to trust, much more than the 'native/local' KGB enslaved MP. And, as far as I know, we now SHOULD only use, ROCA, and no longer, ROCOR.

And too, we should never use: "ROCA-A", or "ROCOR-A", as if, we were among the assorted anti-MP 'fragments', as if they and we are equally legitimate. Because we are indeed, THE sole canonical & legitimate continuation of The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, which we do assert that we are (!)

And, our Metropolitan Agafangel is indeed, the head of our ROCA, and none other. And that, we must... declare, not matter whom it may offend. Because, for one issue, those among the many scattered & uncanonical 'fragments' who may wish to have dialogue with us, have been invited to do so, many many times by our Metropolitan Agafangel. So far, none wish to.

That is why: I deliberately, when I can remember to do it, change any 'ROCOR' to ROCA.

We should also use, Moscow PATRIAR-CHIA, not... Moscow Patriar-chate, when refering to the Communist stooge organization set up by Stalin. The genuine canonical 'Moscow PatriarCHATE, was the genuine church organization of St. Patriarch Tikhon, while the PATRIAR-CHIA (more clear, in the Russian language) is the church of Stalin.

ALSO, ....BECAUSE IN THE EYES OF MANY, we ARE THE ONLY LEGITIMATE CONTINUATION OF THE entire historical canonical Russian Church,(!) & it is no longer to our benefit, or telling the truth as we see it, to label ourselves, as, 'OUTSIDE RUSSIA'. We need to ditch, 'ROCOR'.... and Patriar-chate (when referring to the Communist MP).

Our ROCA is the continuation of the historical Russian PatriarCHATE, not the current KGB outfit in Moscow. And this is true, no matter what is on the internet, these terms are used.. & the google translator uses them.

PLUS, we must always refer to: the current neo-soviet KGB ruled country, as : The Russian Federation,... and not as, 'Russia'. Thus, 'RF' suffices for the proper abbreviation.

> > Rd. Daniel

*Henceforth Remnant Rocor blog policy will be to use these terms: ROCA, Patriarchia, and RF.

Our portal Internet Council is looking for volunteers to help make it better and more interesting.We intend to create and post content, above all, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of what happens in the other sister churches, as well as the most important events in the world.

We need journalists, editors, translators, who would prepare information on events of interest to us, and helped the process (look up, translate, edit) and post content from other sources.

We also really need writers who can create their own materials - analyze, reports, interviews, that is, to independently carry out a serious journalistic work.

At this stage we can not pay for this work, but over time, the number of people who will show what can actually do their work conscientiously, will be formed edition of the portal, which provides permanent and paid positions.

Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians live in the United States of America. In many places, ethnic communities of Orthodox Christians may be found, usually centered around a church serving in their own liturgical language. Other Orthodox Christian immigrants and their children are scattered throughout the country and live where there are no Orthodox churches, no right-believing Orthodox churches, or even Orthodox friends. Recently, many converts to Orthodoxy have been added from life-long Americans, whose eyes have been opened to the immorality and spiritual vacuum of the materialist secular culture in which we all live. Perhaps it is incorrect to call it a spiritual vacuum, rather, the Spirit of God is being driven out of our society, replaced by the spirits of darkness, by the powers of the prince of this world. Russian immigrants were perhaps among the earliest to recognize this development, having lived through a similar experience in their homeland. Now this transformation is becoming more and more evident to others in America.

In times of trouble, people turn [or return] to God. This homecoming may be seen in many souls who seek refuge in God's only Church, the Orthodox Church. But Baptism and an occasional visit to a distant parish or monastery are insufficient for an active spiritual life; that is, for the life of prayer, the prerequisite for true repentance and salvation. A soul needs Christian nourishment everyday of the week and even every hour of the day.

The late Archbishop Andrew of Rockland [of blessed memory] taught his spiritual children what the holy Fathers of the Church established long ago: to be, as the Apostle commands, in a state of constant prayer, one must have regular prayers at intervals of no more that four hours. Indeed, if one places the daily cycle of church services in its proper, ancient order, one will see that the interval between services is always three hours or less:

6:00 p.m. Vespers

9:00 p.m. Compline and Evening prayers

The Midnight Office

3:00 a.m. Morning prayers and Matins

6:00 a.m. First Hour

9:00 a.m. Third Hour

12 noon Sixth Hour

3:00 p.m. Ninth Hour

The Divine Liturgy is set within this cycle, usually between the first and the sixth hour, except in some monasteries and on the eves of certain feasts.

While such an order of services is ideal, in recent memory it has been observed only in the monasteries of the "Unsleeping Ones" -- where services are conducted uninterruptedly by shifts of monks and priestmonks. But it is important for us to be aware of the original schedule of the services, that we may humble ourselves as we realize how far we are from fulfilling the apostolic command, "Pray unceasingly."

However, we should not despair if we cannot attain this ideal. Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church do not demand from us anything more than what is within our capacities. We are expected to do what we can, within our circumstances; as is reflected by the grouping of the daily cycle of worship into morning evening and midnight services in our monasteries, and into vigils and liturgies only on Sundays and feast days in our parishes.

Those who live far away from an Orthodox church can participate in prayer with the whole Church by celebrating its feasts in their own homes. Others may have the time and the desire to add the reading of the weekday or the services to the saints to their usual morning and evening prayers. This practice is encouraged by the Church, especially for those who cannot come to Church regularly. The Aleuts and Eskimos of Alaska kept the Orthodox faith alive for over 100 years despite the virtual absence of clergy.

In 1950, when the resettlement of Russian refugees from the Second World War was at its height, Fr. Sergei Shukin, with the blessing of Metropolitan Seraphim of Berlin and Germany, wrote a short Typicon to guide Orthodox Christian refugees how to conduct prayers services if an Orthodox priest were unavailable where they relocated. Today, when many American-born Orthodox Christians find themselves as spiritual refugees from their own society and may soon find themselves subject to persecution, a translation of this Typicon is timely, with a revised list of prayer and services books, available in English. Besides its immediate value from a deeper immersion in the Church's daily life of prayer, an Orthodox Christian, who begins reading church services privately, will find that when he goes to church, the services and chants will become more understandable and enjoyable to him and his family, and thus more profitable for their souls.

Just recently added to stock an excellent book which ought to be in the hands of all Orthodox parents or parents-to-be: Orthodox Christian Parenting is an excellent compilation of writings of fathers ancient & modern and some articles from modern parents themselves.

Orthodox Christian Parenting

Cultivating God's Creation

Long needed! Especially designed for busy Orthodox Christians, with hundreds of citations from Church fathers ancient and modern, the book is the fruit of the labors of many pooled resources. It is designed to be easily read, either straight through or for a particular issue (there is a good detailed table of contents). A copy should be in (and read in!) every Orthodox Christian home with children (or children soon or someday to come). It begins with the beginnings – marriage itself – and carries through to college years.

Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Womenfalls on the third Sunday of Pascha. The myrrh-bearers, including The Mother of God and Mary Magdalene, had brought funeral spices and ointments to finish committing Christ’s body to the grave. They were the first to see the empty tomb and were instructed by the risen Lord to bring the joyful news to the apostles.

“The Mystery of the Personality of Metropolitan Anthony and His Meaning for Orthodox Slavdom”

July 28/August10,1936

by Archimandrite Justin (Popovich)

The following lecture was given in Belgrade at a solemn gathering in memory of His Beatitude Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, by the renowned Serbian theologian Archimandrite Dr. Justin Popovich, at that time professor of dogmatic theology at the Theological Faculty of Belgrade University. The lecture was printed in the journal of the Orthodox theological faculty in Belgrade "Theology" (vol. XI V, No. 1, 1939, p. 40) and is presented here in an English translation by Joachim Wertz.

Orthodox LifeVol. 34, No. 5, September-October, 1984

I.

I find myself in the position of an ant who must speak about the soarings of an eagle. Can an ant follow the path of an eagle? No! However, it is possible, from its ant's perspective, for it to admire the eagle soaring in the heavens, and to stand frozen by the awe of sweet delight.

Therefore, with my ant's tongue I want to babble on with some of my observations, and I ask you to pardon an ant, that he dare to speak of an eagle of Orthodoxy. Oh! I am firmly convinced that I possess neither the skill nor the capability to explain the mystery of the wondrous personality of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Anthony, but I am only able to bow down, in fervent awe and pious respect, before the wonders of his boundless love for Christ and his gracious love for man.

What is the mystery of the blessed Metropolitan Anthony? It is his boundless love for Christ. Examine any of his thoughts, or feelings, or desires, or works — and everywhere you will find, as a creative force, his immeasurable love for Christ. He lived and worked by the Lord Christ, and therefore everything that he possessed can be attributed to the God-Man. His biography is a Gospel copied in miniature. In reality, there exists in the world only one biography which has eternal value, and this is the biography of the God-Man — Christ; human biographies are valuable only insofar as they are united with it and proceed from it. Blessed Metropolitan Anthony was wholly united with it and proceeded from it. He, a Christ-bearer, following in the footsteps of the great apostle, desired, just between us, to know nothing save the Lord Christ and Him crucified (I Cor. 22). Thus, the mystery of his exceptional personality matured into the mystery of the personality of the God-Man and now radiates off into all of its infinity.

Metropolitan Anthony's boundless love of Christ has been shown to be directed toward the world as a blessed love for man. His touching love for man is nothing else but his prayerful love of Christ extended to men. He was boundlessly man-loving because he was boundlessly Christ-loving. For his tireless love for man he drew strength from his tireless love for Christ. The Divine Lover of men taught him the true love for man and gave him the powers of grace so that he could persevere in it at the cost of many sufferings. He loved man even in his sins; he never confused the sin with the sinner; he condemned sin but had mercy on the sinner. In his love for man he never lost strength, he never weakened, for he loved man through Christ and in Christ. It is impossible, according to the Gospels, to truly and completely love men, if God does not give us the graces of strength and blessed love. Human love for men quickly fades, if it is not nourished by God. True love for man is possible only through true love of God. The New Testament truth is: love for God is also love for man. This was taught to us by the Divine Saviour Himself, making the second dependent upon the first. What is more, the Lord reduced all His divine commandments to two: to the commandment of love for God and to the commandment of love for man. And thus He exclaimed: on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:40). What is true of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs, is also true of our great Christ-loving and man-loving blessed Metropolitan Anthony, just as he is completely, by his entire personality, established on these two commandments.

Evangelical love for Christ, by an essential necessity, manifests itself as blessed love for man. However, by what powers are love of Christ and love for man established and maintained in the heart of man? By prayer, fasting, mercy, meekness, humility, chastity, and patience. Evangelical virtues nourish one another, live in one another, and each is fortified by the help of the other. The holy fathers, apostles, and ascetics are witnesses to this. Together with them, that great ascetic of our day, the blessed Metropolitan Anthony, is a witness to this, just as he was indefatigable and inexhaustible in his love of Christ and in blessed love for man, since he was indefatigable and constant in prayer, in fasting, in patience, in mercy, in humility, in meekness, and in chastity. Love for the Lord is revealed in the fulfillment of His commandments. This is the only sign by which one who honors Christ is distinguished from other men. Laboring tirelessly in evangelical struggles, this metropolitan who was zealous for Christ carved out for himself a vast and wondrous personality, which reminds one of the holy fathers.

Make no mistake about it, the blessedly reposed metropolitan is an exceptional patristic phenomenon in our time. He passed through our stormy century fearlessly, like an apostle, and with evangelical meekness, just like the great fathers of the Church, Athanasius, Basil, and Gregory passed through the fourth century. Looking at him, I say to myself: yes, even now one can actually live in a patristic manner, even now one can be humble and fearless like the fathers, even now one can actually be a bishop like the holy fathers. Why is this so? Because the Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and unto the ages; likewise, human nature remains the same from Adam until our own day. The fathers of the Church are different from us not by nature, but by will. In order to imitate them, we must, according to the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, possess two qualities: resolution and effort of will. That mystery, the mystery of Christ, completely permeates these evangelical heroes. It uninterruptedly flows through the apostolate of the apostles, through the martyrdom of the martyrs, through the struggles of the ascetics. Even more must be said: it still flows continuously through the Orthodox Church, through its holiness, catholicity, apostolicity, and unity. This holy mystery has been successively transmitted with exceptional force even through the patristic personality of the blessed Metropolitan Anthony. His entire being is rooted in the holy fathers. Thence sprang his very touching love for the holy fathers; he could not even speak of them without compunction and tears. Thus his personality, his life, his labors can also be explained through the holy fathers. The holy fathers are his parents, his teachers, his tutors, his guides. They taught him holiness, they inspired him to asceticism, they gave him a catholic sensitivity and an orthodox consciousness. Tirelessly striving through patristic struggles, he transformed his own nature and habits into evangelical love, humility, meekness, and mercy. To realize the Gospel in one's own nature — this is the very meaning of human existence in this world. In this the blessed metropolitan is an irreplaceable teacher and guide. Finding through struggles evangelical co-suffering love for men, he lived by it and produced it in others. In this was his wondrous might and his miraculous power.

Ladies and gentlemen! He is a wonderworker! By his touching love for man he worked wonders with human souls. Is it not a miracle to raise a dead soul to evangelical faith, to evangelical humility, to the evangelical life in Christ! Yes, it is a miracle; and it is a greater miracle than to raise a dead man from the grave or to move mountains. And of such miracles the metropolitan possessed many, very many. Who among you has not experienced such a miracle in his presence? As no one else, he knew, by prayer and meekness, how to enter into your soul and raise it from the death of sin. And already, imperceptibly, he mastered it. By what means? By co-suffering love. To master souls of men by chaste love is the evangelical way, the apostolic way, the patristic way, the Orthodox way. Every rule over men and governing of them that is not through love is not evangelical and neither patristic nor Orthodox, but rather is unevangelical, papal, and inquisitorial.

Having stood through evangelical struggles close to God, the blessed metropolitan drew all to God, inspired them to evangelical struggles, since the closer a man is to God, the closer he is to men as well. When the magnet of grace mightily attracts the soul to the higher worlds, then man is transformed into an arrow of prayer that passes through expanses and centuries with lightning-speed. The thunder of grace strikes the heart only after many struggles and labors, and then fills the soul with miraculous love and holiness. Such thunder struck the heart, zealous for Christ, of the humble metropolitan, and he by the power of evangelical co-suffering love drew men to himself, or rather, better to say, to Christ in himself. By grace-filled struggles, he converted his heart into a temple of the Holy Spirit, and by that he fulfilled the word spoken to him at his consecration: the first and main task of a pastor is that he, in his own heart, always prepare a temple for the Holy Spirit through spiritual struggles.

The mystery of the personality of Metropolitan Anthony is the mystery of all great monks. Here a man renounces himself for the sake of Christ in order that, through Christ, he is again united with men. There is nothing more fearful for man than to confront himself and nothing is more unpleasant for man than to face other men; and nothing is more sorrowful for man than to come face to face with the world. Only when man accepts the Lord Christ as the mediator between himself and men, between himself and the world, and even between him and his very self; then his sorrow is transformed into joy, his despair into delight, and death into immortality; then the bitter mystery of the world is transformed into the sweet mystery of God. Thus, in the soul of man there is created a prayerful relationship not only toward God, but even a relationship toward much-suffering creation. Therefore, a man of Christ must be an inspired man of prayer. Such was the blessed metropolitan. Everywhere his relationship to God, to men, and to the world was one of prayer.

Compunctionate through his co-suffering love for the world, our holy Vladyka received from God the gift of tears. He would weep from compunction, he would weep from sadness, and he would weep from joy. This world is full of causes for weeping and grief. Being always in a prayerful disposition, the blessed Vladyka especially shed tears when serving the holy liturgy. And when he had to preach on some story or event, his tears would pour down and spasms would grip him in the course of his speech. In his all-embracing co-suffering love, he wept for us and with us. He wept for everyone and everything, and thus drew all to submission to Christ. In this way he very much resembled those great and holy ones who grieved for the human race: Ephraim the Syrian, Isaac the Syrian, and Simeon the New Theologian.

In more recent times no one has exercised such a powerful influence upon Orthodox thought than the blessed Metropolitan Anthony. He led Orthodox thought away from the scholastic-rationalistic path and onto the blessed ascetic path. He showed and proved indisputably that the eternal power of Orthodox thought lies in the holy fathers. Only the saints are true enlighteners, and thus true theologians. For in their own lives they experienced the truths of the Gospel as the essence of their own lives and thought. All dogmatic truths are given to us in order that we may transform them into the life and spirit of our spirit, since they are, according to the words of the Saviour, spirit, truth, and life. Therefore, this godly-wise hierarch has written: "The truth of God is comprehended in no other way than through the gradual perfection in faith and virtue. Hence, this knowledge is by nature tied to our inner rebirth, with the stripping off of the old man and the putting on of the new" (Col. 3:9). [1]

Along with the immortal Khomiakov, our holy Vladyka enlivened patristic theology and showed that Orthodoxy is Orthodoxy only by virtue of its patristic holiness and apostolicity. Nothing is so foreign to Orthodoxy as lifeless scholasticism and icy rationalism. Orthodoxy before all else and above all is an experience and life of grace, and through that the blessed knowledge of God and the blessed knowledge of man. The Orthodox Church embraces the whole of life, with all its complexities, only leaving no place in it for malice and sin. The holy hierarch writes: "The Church encompasses in itself all sides of human life, only malice and sin do not enter into her. Our entire life should be a continuation of those liturgical prayers that are so dear to all of us." [2]

Only a life of prayer in God permits correct thinking about God. Metropolitan Anthony recognized this great truth of Orthodoxy in the prayerful communion with all the saints. And together with them, he experienced in himself, as his own experience, the universal experience — the sense and consciousness of the Church — the love for Christ surpassing all (see Eph. 3:18-19). Yes, only a great monk can become a great hierarch, since a great monk, with the help of the grace of God, is able to conquer his own passions and, with godly wisdom, master his own soul. This grace gives him the power and the might, the skill and the love, as well as the right, according to the Gospel, to master men's souls. "The essence of Christianity," our great hierarch and great monk says, "is the renunciation of life's pleasures; it is to be found in the striving for purity, in the readiness to suffer for truth, in the acquisition of the feeling of constant love for God and for men, and in the forgiveness of the offences of enemies." [3] "It is impossible to stand up for the truth without sorrows and deprivations." [4]

Even now Orthodoxy possesses the full force that it had in the time of St. Gregory the Theologian, who directs, "It is first necessary to purify oneself, and then to cleanse others; first one must be filled with wisdom, and then teach others wisdom; first one must become a light unto himself, and then enlighten others also; first one must himself draw near to God, and then draw others as well; it is necessary first of all to sanctify oneself, and then to sanctify others as well." [5]

And our blessed Vladyka wrote of himself: "My scholarly work was not a system according to strictly defined principles — it was my most internal life, it was the very breath of my spiritual life, it was my walking before God, the crystallization and contemplation of His all-powerful grace." [6] That which the holy Vladyka said of his friend, Bishop Michael [Bishop of Simferopol, reposed August 19, 1898], pertains above all to himself "He was a great spirit, an apostolic spirit, who extended far beyond the bounds of his own personal life, and, in a dynamic outburst of love and co-suffering, desired to draw all men and the entire universe into his embrace, and purifying all by the flame of prayer, to raise them to Christ. Indeed, Bishop Michael was one of those few men, who are barely aware of the surrounding external activity of life, yet moving in the midst of it, perform the works of their calling; as a matter of fact, they are always occupied with a single thought, a single feeling, sorrow for the sinful world, a burning desire for the common salvation and the good; who desire 'to become all things to all men, that by all means some may be saved' (I Cor. 9:22). They are those chosen vessels who, together with Christ, could say: 'I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?' (Luke 12:49). These are they who, grieving over human faults, over injustice and ecclesiastical discords, cry out in their hearts:' 'the zeal of thine house hath consumed me' (John 2:17), and can therefore repeat, concerning themselves, the words of the divine Paul: 'I affirm by my conscience, that I die daily'."[7] The ideal of a pastor, which the great hierarch represented, found its complete fulfillment in him; for pastoral service consists of the merging of the pastoral spirit with the moral life of every person, in the experience of co-suffering love for the moral life, the moral struggle of his flock, in his prayers for that flock, as if theirs were his own personal sins. [8] For such a pastoral podvig, the Chief-Pastor Himself, the Lord Christ, gives the power and means.

II.

The ascetical personality of the blessed Metropolitan Anthony has tremendous meaning for the entire Orthodox world. How is that? Precisely in that he is the sole patristic manifestation in our day and that he perceived, in a patristic manner, the universality of Orthodoxy. The basis of his life and labors was, before all else and above all, Orthodoxy. Equally close and dear to him were Orthodox Syrians, Orthodox Greeks, Orthodox Bulgarians, Orthodox Romanians, and Orthodox Serbs. In his vast soul a place was found for all the Orthodox. And he attracted everyone by his boundless love. He became all things for all men, so as to save at least some. It is an apostolic and Orthodox truth: a nation possesses its worth only through Orthodoxy and in Orthodoxy. Without that, a nation is devoid of eternal worth; or better yet: a nation without Orthodoxy is nothing other than a mere string of walking corpses. None of our contemporaries has perceived the correlation of nationality to Orthodoxy in such an evangelical, patristic, and Orthodox manner as has our holy Vladyka, Metropolitan Anthony. A people exists that it may be sanctified and enlightened by the eternal truth and the eternal life of Orthodoxy. That which is great and eternal in any nation is Orthodoxy, and in it is the Lord Christ.

In Orthodoxy Russia is great — this is the fundamental position of the great hierarch of the Russian land. Orthodoxy is Russia's greatest worth, Russia's singular meaning, her most exalted mission; Russia is eternal through Orthodoxy. That which Dostoevsky prophesied about Russia and about Orthodoxy, our great saint put into practice within the Church. The mystery and might of Russia lies in Orthodoxy. In it lies the mystery and might of all Orthodox Slavdom. Dostoevsky's idea of the "universal church" found in the holy metropolitan a brilliant example. The Russian nation derives from universal Orthodoxy its boundless love for man and its evangelical ability to be as one with other nations, not losing in the process its own Russianness. Where does the faith of the Russian nation lie? — It lies, answers the holy Vladyka, in the fact that the nation accepted in its heart, the two main all-encompassing commandments of the Gospel: humility and co-suffering love; and these commandments made all Orthodox peoples dear to the Russian heart, as well as all humanity. The power of this certainty is great, and it seizes every man, sincere in his drawing close to the people. [9]

Here, right before our eyes, Dostoevsky's prophecy of the Russian universal man is realized in the Christ-bearer, blessed Metropolitan Anthony. But who could become as one with other men, to enter into their souls in such a way as to suffer their sufferings, to grieve with their sorrows, to pain over their griefs? It could only be he, that hierarch of the Russian land great in humility, filled with boundless co-suffering Gospel love. Christ-like universal humanity is the precious gift of Orthodox Russia to Slavdom and all mankind. This she received, for her humility, from the Lord Christ, Who was incarnate in man, and by that has shown His boundless love. The characteristic and power of theandric love is the ability of one to become one with the loved one, that he may be saved from sin and death.

Orthodox universality penetrates to the depths of the Russian national consciousness. The Russian national consciousness, declares the holy metropolitan, is not a racial or tribal consciousness, but a confessional and religious one. [10] The patriotism of the Russian people is primarily religious and Orthodox. The people love Russia "as the guardian of divine truth, as the minister of evangelical piety." [11] "We love Russia," declares the blessed Vladyka, "because she preserves in herself the Russian idea, the Russian spiritual nature, the Russian way of life. This idea is the Kingdom of God, this nature is the striving for holiness, this way of life is an expression of the efforts of the seven-hundred year life of the country and the nine-hundred year life of the people to establish evangelical righteousness in the land, to forsake all in order to find Christ, to make His will, the canons of His Church, the law of the life of the society." [12]

Holy Russia is not a dream or a fantasy, but a living ideal, which is realized in the historical life of the Russian people. "Our homeland," the blessed Vladyka points out, "is the incarnation of the Gospel in the way of life and character of the people, an incarnation of the Kingdom of God. Our Russia is not merely a jurisdictional entity or a government, no — it is a universal, all-embracing idea. To love it, to understand it, to plant it in our soul and the other areas of life is dependent upon each one of us; this is our duty, this is our sincere joy, this is the reconciliation of all both with life and with our lot." [13]

What do we, Orthodox Slavs, expect from our brothers, the Orthodox Russians? You lead us along the way of the Orthodox Christian truth; be our tireless leaders in the realization of the eternal evangelical truths; guide us to heaven and to heavenly righteousness. This you can do, in as much as Holy Russia has given us a multitude of miraculous realizations and wondrous expressions of the eternal Orthodox truths. In the words of the holy metropolitan: "Holy Russia must unite all the eastern peoples and be their guide to heaven." [14]

If our time possesses a great and holy preacher, apostle and prophet or religious, ecclesiastical, universal patriotism, then this is the great hierarch of the great Russian land, the blessed Metropolitan Anthony. According to his interpretation, separate national forms of patriotism have sense and value only in as much as they derive their sense and their value from religious, ecclesiastical, universal patriotism. [15] The Slavophilism of our Vladyka is not a racial, not a tribal chauvinism, but Orthodox and evangelical. Thus, in the name of such a Slavophilism he calls all to the service of others, and to humility before God and men. [16]

Slavophilism is of no value in itself, except as the bearer and vessel of Orthodoxy. This is the fundamental idea of our Vladyka and Dostoevsky as well. And Orthodoxy is that new word, which Slavdom, headed by Holy Russia, must proclaim to the world, proclaiming it with humility, serving all nations in meekness and evangelical truth. Therefore, real Orthodox can never be chauvinists. I recall once, in a conversation with me in 1926, the blessedly reposed metropolitan related to me the following: "On Athos there is a custom that a monk who does not forgive offences is punished by being made to omit the words 'and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,' at the reading of the Lord's Prayer, until such a time when he has forgiven the offence committed against him. And I myself have suggested," added the great saint, "that the chauvinist-nationalists not read the ninth article of the Symbol of Faith."

The ninth article of the Symbol of Faith — I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

The evangelical patriotism of the Lord Christ should be considered the greatest worth of one's nation and the only true reason for its existence. For "what can take the place of the Lord Christ for a nation," asks the blessed metropolitan. "Can the trifling existence of a government, which lacks any rational meaning if it is founded merely on national self-love, and becomes foreign to the religious idea, really take that place? Such a nation is already not a nation but a rotting corpse, that considers its own decay to be life. In actuality it has no life, but in it and on it there live only moles, worms, and repulsive insects who rejoice that the body has died and is rotting, since in a living body there would be nothing for them to live on, and they would not be able to satisfy their gluttony."[17]

That which has meaning for the spiritual life of each person separately, the same is also important for the collective spiritual life of a people. The laws of the Gospel are the same in both instances. Therefore, the holy metropolitan counsels and homilizes: As man's individual personality is stifled in its development and becomes empty and shallow when man makes himself the object of his activity; so also the collective personality of a nation attains the full development of its talents only when it is not an end in itself, but rather a means for the disinterested fulfillment of its divine destiny." [18]

If we were to crystallize this principle of Vladyka, it would read as follows: the Russian, Serbian, and Bulgarian nations can be great only if the goal of their existence be the collective realization of the commandments of the Gospel. Otherwise, "Serbianism," Russianism," and “Bulgarianism" are reduced to senseless and pernicious chauvinism. If "Serbianism" flourishes not by the power of evangelical podvigs and not to Orthodox catholicity, then it will choke in its own egoistic chauvinism. What is profitable for Serbdom is profitable for other Orthodox nationalities as well. Nations pass, the Gospel is eternal. Only in so far as a nation is filled with the eternal evangelical truth and righteousness, does it exist, and itself becomes and remains eternal. Only such a patriotism can be justified from an evangelical point of view. This is the patriotism of the holy apostles, the holy martyrs, the holy fathers. When the emperor-tormentor asked the holy martyrs Acindynus, Pegasius, and Anempodistus where they were from, they answered: "Are you asking us, O Emperor, about our homeland? Our homeland and our life is the most holy, consubstantial, and undivided Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God.” [19]

The blessed Metropolitan Anthony is the most gifted contemporary representative of Russian Orthodox nationalism, a nationalism consecrated and enlightened by Christ; a nationalism by which all men are brothers in Christ; a nationalism by which the mighty must serve the weak, the wise the unwise, the humble the proud, the first the last. Growing out of patristic Orthodox universal patriotism, the blessed Vladyka can only be appreciated from the same apostolic patristic perspective. We can apply to him what St. Gregory of Nyssa said about his own brother, St. Basil, after his death: "Wherein lies Basil's noble origin? Where is his homeland? His origin is his affinity to divinity, and his homeland is virtue." [20]

Because of his evangelical virtues and especially due to his Orthodox catholicity, the great and holy Vladyka, the blessed Metropolitan Anthony, was dear and close to us Serbs, as he was to you Russians. He was our common treasure, our common saint and enlightener, our common guide and leader. Permit me to confess before you — the blessed Metropolitan Anthony was the actual master of my soul, the true bishop and overseer of my heart. In his person I had my most dear spiritual father. Always of a pan-Orthodox frame of mind, he gathered us foreign Orthodox under the broad wings of his great Russian soul, as a hen gathers her nestlings under her wings. Many times I felt the power of his pan-Orthodox love — for him, we Serbs were as dear as the Russians. A touching, all-embracing power was shed forth from him. I would call it Orthodox catholicity. If you will, he was a contemporary pan-Orthodox patriarch. By his ascetic life he became and has always remained, a rule of faith and an image of meekness, a God-inspired nourisher of hierarchs and a fervent intercessor for our souls. In this world he always lived in prayerful communion "with all the saints." Without a doubt, now, even in that other world, he lives with all the saints, there "where the sound of those rejoicing is ceaseless, and the joy of those beholding the ineffable goodness of Christ is unending."

Having before us the wondrous and delightful personality of the holy and blessed Metropolitan Anthony, what remains for us Serbs? We bow to the ground before the great hierarch and saint of the Russian land, who sanctified and strengthened the Serbian land in Orthodoxy by his sojourn of many years. We prayerfully bow and humbly throw ourselves at the feet of the holy and glorious metropolitan. We bow to him for his boundless love of Christ and tender love for man, we bow to him for his meekness, for his humility, for his loving kindness, for his prayerfulness, for his life in Christ and for his suffering for Christ. We throw ourselves before him because of his tireless love for us who are small and worthless. We bow before the great Russian nation, for she has given Orthodoxy such a great and holy hierarch, who by his own evangelical light illuminated even our tormented Serbian land. He is yours — in this is your joy and delight; but he is also ours. Oh! I know that we Serbs are not in a position to compare ourselves with the great Russian nation, that tortured Christ-bearer and God-bearer. Neither are we in a position to compete with you. However, permit us, as your least and lowest brothers, nevertheless to compete with you in one thing in our immeasurable love for the great saint of the Russian land, the blessed Metropolitan Anthony, and in prayerful reverence for him, for we as well as you, pray to him, fall down before him, that he may pray day and night before the throne of the sweetest Lord Jesus, not only for the great much-suffering Russian people, but also for the Serbian people, and for the tormented Serbian land.

NOTES:

1. “The Moral Idea of the Dogma of the Most-Holy Trinity”; in the “Collected Works of Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev and Galich”, Belgrade, 1935, p. 11.

2. Sermon at the moleben to the Bodiless Hosts, in “Collected Works”, pp. 182-183.

3. Talk in honor of the holy Great Martyr Barbara, in “Collected Works”, p. 242.

4. Talk at a moleben, in “Collected Works”, p. 221.

5. Orat. 11, 71; P. gr., t. 35, col. 480B.

6. "Epistle to the Students of the Kazan Theological Academy", in “Collected Works”, p. 280.

7. Eulogy at the burial of Bishop Michael, in “Collected Works”, pp. 268-269.

8. Sermon at his installation as bishop of the Ufa Diocese, in “Collected Works”, pp. 302-303.

9. "The Russian People and Russian Society," in “Collected Works”, p. 332.

10. "On Nationalism and Patriotism," in “Collected Works”, p. 253.

11. Ibid.

12. Sermon on the feast of the Four Moscow hierarchs, in “Collected Work”, p. 206.

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THE SISTER CHURCHES

The True Orthodox Churches of Romania, and Bulgaria, and with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and with the Synod in Resistance, are called by the Grace of the Lord to coexist in Mysteriological communion.

from §4 of “Schedule of Steps in the Union Process” Feb. 2014

VL AGAFANGEL PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Theotokos and all the Saints: keep our souls unharmed from the destructive influences of globalism, ecumenism, and sergianism, and give all of us the strength to endure the latest onset of persecution of the Church of Christ. Amen

QUOTE

"I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you... I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.”

St. John Chrysostom

QUOTE

"If we have a good priest (or bishop), we give thanks to God. If a bad one, we endure him".

- old Russian saying

QUOTE

"And here is something to which I would like to draw your attention to – something about which very many do not think about. Father Archimandrite Constantine, whom probably many of you know, the reposed editor of the journal “Orthodox Rus’”, a profound Christian mind, considered that the most terrible among all the achievements of the communists was that the communists created their own false-church, a soviet church which they shoved onto the unfortunate people in place of the genuine Church which went underground into the catacombs. Do not think that I am exaggerating or that Father Constantine was exaggerating!

Once, in the year 1918, a Pan-Russian Church Council was held. At this Council, the entire Pan-Russian Church together with its first holy hierarch, Patriarch Tikhon anathematized, excommunicated from the Church not only the theomachists and godless ones themselves, but also all those who would collaborate with them."

~St. Philaret of NY

QUOTE

"To the Russians abroad, it has been granted to shine in the whole world with the light of Orthodoxy, so that other peoples, seeing their good deeds, might glorify our Father Who is in heaven, and thus obtain salvation for themselves. But if it does not perform this purpose and even abases Orthodoxy by its life, the Diaspora will have before itself two paths: either to be converted to the path of repentance, having acquired forgiveness through prayer to God and being reborn spiritually and to being capable of giving rebirth to our suffering homeland; or else being rejected by God and remaining in banishment, persecuted by everyone, until gradually it will degenerate and disappear from the face of the earth."

from Vladika John's report to the All-Diaspora Sobor in 1938

QUOTE

The apostasy of our times, to a degree unique in Christian history, is proceeding not primarily by false teachings or canonical deviations, but rather by a false understanding of Orthodoxy on the part of those who may even be perfectly Orthodox in their dogmatic teaching and canonical situation. A correct "Orthodoxy" deprived of the Spirit of true Christianity—this is the meaning of Sergianism, and it cannot be fought by calling it a "heresy," which it is not, nor by detailing its canonical irregularities, which are only incidental to something much more important.

- Russia's Catacomb Saints

QUOTE

Let it not be thought, however, that I affirm that it is necessary to prize every peace. For I know that there is a splendid disagreement and the most destructive unanimity. Yet one must love a good peace which has a good purpose: unity with God.

-St. Gregory the Theologian

QUOTE

... To pious Christians the fact that the world has fallen into godlessness is to them obvious, and they are ready to see it as an unfortunate historical inevitability ...

Professor Viktor Trostinkov

QUOTE

If you want to have assurance that you are saved, repent now that you are young and healthy and it is manifest that you left sin while you were still able to sin. But if you persevere in sin into your old age, why then you did not leave sin, but rather sin left you.

St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

QUOTE

Live in peace not only with your friends, but also with your enemies; but only your personal enemies, and not the enemies of God.

St. Theodosius of the Kiev Caves

QUOTE

Judge not according to appearances, but judge righteous judgment.

St. John 7:24

QUOTE

"If Russia is not ressurrected, a new Golgotha threatens the whole world."

Priest Vladimir Evsukoff 1980†

QUOTE

A man who does not express a desire to link himself to the latest of the saints (in time) in all love and humility owing to a certain distrust in himself, will never be linked to the preceding saints and will not be admitted to their succession, even though he thinks he possesses all possible faith and love for God and for all His saints. He will be cast out of their midst, as one who refused to take humbly the place allotted to him by God before all time, and to link himself to that latest saint (in time) as God had disposed.

St. Symeon the New Theologian

QUOTE

SCOBA, to which world orthodoxy gives such great significance, reproaching us for not belonging to it, actually is in no way a canonical organ. The Russian Church Outside of Russia was invited to take part in these conferences; however, our Church refused to send representatives there after clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate were invited. "We never and nowhere will sit at one table with them; by this our spiritual communion with the Universal Church is not broken."

Archpriest George Grabbe 1969

QUOTE

"Let us always thank the Lord that we are in the Holy Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which throughout the 80 years of its existence has trodden the straight, royal path of God, without ever turning aside and losing its way."

QUOTE

The passions lying hidden in the soul provide the demons with the means of arousing impassioned thoughts in us. Then, fighting the intellect through these thoughts, they force it to give its assent to sin. When it has been overcome, they lead it to sin in the mind; and when this has been done they induce it, captive as it is, to commit the sin in action. Having thus desolated the soul by means of these thoughts, the demons then retreat, taking the thoughts with them, and only the spectre or idol of sin remains in the intellect. Referring to this our Lord says, 'When you see the abominable idol of desolation standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand)... (Matt 24:15). For man's intellect is a holy place and a temple of God in which the demons, having desolated the soul by impassioned thoughts, set up the idol of sin. That these things have already taken place in history no one, I think, who has read Josephus will doubt; though some say that they will also come to pass in the time of the Antichrist.

Philokalia

QUOTE

There are three things that impel us towards what is holy: natural instincts, angelic powers, and probity of intention. Natural instincts impel us, when, for example, we do to others what we would wish them to do to us (cf. Luke 6:31), or when we see someone suffering deprivation or in need and naturally feel compassion. Angelic powers impel us when, being ourselves impelled to something worthwhile, we find we are providentially helped and guided. We are impelled by probity of intention when, discriminating between good and evil, we choose the good.

Philokalia

QUOTE

The outward Gospel of social idealism is a symptom of loss of faith.

Fr. Seraphim Rose

QUOTE

Impurity of intellect consists first in having false knowledge, ...

Philokalia

QUOTE

Isn't Marx really the third of a trio with Darwin and Freud as a practical source in the war against revealed truth?

Fr. Seraphim Rose

Letters, 1972

QUOTE

QUOTE

To: ROCA members from the MP

"You have to understand that you have long been in a false church, which implants in its members' souls, a false spirituality, which in turn takes root and grows stronger and stronger, the longer a man stays in it."

Bishop Athanasius, 2014

QUOTE

Mankind has gone mad, and we see with horror the abyss into which it is being drawn. Let us lay aside every worldly care, and let us fall down in prayer and readiness for the dread Judgment of the Lord. Death will not come with bombs and poisons. Death has already come and take up residence with us and in us, and has made corpses of us, Mammon has overwhelmed this sinful world, which is dominated by Queen Science, Lucifer himself, which with one hand makes medicines and machines for man's foolish happiness and with the other terrorizes him by means of the bomb! Such is the sorry state of knowledge and the agony of the world through and through. Let us lift up our hearts.

-Photios Kontoglou (†1965) letter to Dr. Cavarnos dated 5/10/57

QUOTE

"Psychopaths are a superior subspecies. We transcend humanity. We are Nature's Supermen. We deserve the subservience and availability of everyone around us. Luckily, every year 100-million people are born throughout the world. We have 100-million new choices every year."

-Sam Vaknin, self-realized psychopath

QUOTE

Our Saviour placed the Church in the world in order to save the world, and Satan is always trying to place the world into the Church in order to destroy the Church.

attributed to Desert Fathers

QUOTE

"If you see lying and hypocrisy, expose them in front of all, even if they are clothed inpurple and fine linen."

HALL OF SHAME

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